Storage device manufacturers are starting to issue warnings to customers in Asian markets who are using their SSDs for cryptocurrency mining purposes, more specifically mining Chia Coins.
GALAX Warns Users of Chia Coin Cryptocurrency Mining, Says Doing So Will Void SSD Warranty
Knowing how fast Chia Coin cryptocurrency mining can cause wear and tear on SSDs, GALAX China has issued a warning to customers that the mining procedure causes higher than usual writes over the SSD which can cause slow down and even permanent damage due to excessive usage. The full statement is provided below (translated from Chinese):
If users use our SSD products for mining/farming and other abnormal operations, the data write volume is much higher than the daily use standard, and the SSD will slow down or be damaged due to excessive data write volume.
After-sales by our company After testing and qualitatively damaged according to the test results, according to our SSD product quality assurance regulations, we have the right to refuse to provide related quality assurance services. The final interpretation right belongs to the company.
The Chia Coin Cryptocurrency is gaining wide popularity in the Asian Pacific region, especially in China. The cryptocurrency has not yet launched on Blockchain and there's no telling when it will however there are still several cryptocurrency mining farms investing in HDD and SSD products which have resulted in storage devices supply almost being dried out.
The mining process of Chia Coin requires a large amount of free space and runs several reading & writing operations. In this case, endurance (TBW) is equally as important as speed, so consumer SSDs aren't the best choice for mining due to their lower endurance, and running these operations will significantly reduce the lifespan of an SSD. Hence, the target for these miners is primarily hard drives and data center SSDs. A few Chinese manufacturers have announced mining-specific SSDs & storage devices that are currently in mass production and expected to launch soon but they could just be standard drivers with a mining sticker attached to them so failure rates in mining would end up similar.
The manufacturers will make it very specific that Chia Coin and other cryptocurrency mining on these drivers will void the warranty and dedicated drivers will come with a very limited period of warranty time.
